Across Boundaries
by SilverRayan
Summary: To contaminate the cultural barriers was to die. Soundwave had taken it so far beyond mere contamination that death would be too easy if they caught him. Warning: Mpreg


I was reading through some of my older stories, and found that this one desperately needed to be edited. Hopefully it flows a little more smoothly now!

* * *

Soundwave was scared. It was not a feeling that he was used to, nor one that he particularly wanted to feel ever again. How had he gotten himself into this mess? It was supposed to be a simple assignment. Senator Razorclaw was unable to make it to the negotiations with the Winglords of Vos, and so he had sent his assistant in his place. Or so he told Soundwave. The telepath had picked the lie from his superior's processor easily, but he did not call him on it. The mech had no idea that he had such… unique abilities, and he intended to keep it that way. Besides, he would relish a few cycles away from the monotony of the corrupt council which he was bound to.

He had arrived in the city of Vos to subtle hostility. He found himself to be rather uncomfortable with the anger and hatred he could feel directed towards him, but no one could tell, of course, as his facemask and visor hid his apprehension. Telepathy had also taught him to conceal his emotions, lest he somehow respond to someone's thoughts rather than words. That tended to go over badly. It would be even worse to slip up here, given what city he was currently in. Vos was a city of flyers, whom were known to be volatile and emotional creatures by nature. They also did not care for grounders, and seemed to be taking Soundwave's presence in their city as a personal affront. Hence the feelings of tension. The intimidating red and white seeker standing in front of him, flanked by two others, also had something to do with that.

"Greetings, Soundwave. I am Starscream, and this is Thundercracker," the sky blue seeker nodded in greeting, "and Skywarp." The purple and black seeker grinned. "We are the Winglords of Vos. I understand that you will be taking Senator Razorclaw's place in the negotiations?"

"Yes, Lord Starscream. I apologize if this change offends you." Soundwave spoke softly. He could feel the irritation of the three lords, though they did not show it. Had he not had his empathy he would have assumed that there was nothing wrong.

The young mech wasn't stupid. Quite the contrary really. He was aware of how prideful the seekers were, and he was willing to bet his telepathy that the senator's refusal to negotiate with them had been seen as a snub. And then to send a mere assistant, one who had only recently been assigned to the council, would have simply added rust to the wound. The young Kaonite was almost certain that there would be no working with the seekers unless he could salvage the situation fast. Unfortunately, he wasn't really sure how to do that. The best he could hope for at this point was that simple politeness would work for the time being. Luckily for him, Starscream smiled.

"Do you know how many times I've had a grounder apologize to me?"

"No sir."

"Never. It is a nice change." He was still angry, that much the sapphire mech knew, but he seemed placated for now. "Welcome to the city of Vos. We will meet next solar cycle to go over the terms of the treaty. Please, make yourself comfortable. Sunstorm," a bright golden mech stepped up to stand next to Starscream, "will escort you to your quarters." The purple seeker, Skywarp, winked saucily at him. Soundwave wasn't really sure what to make of that.

The negotiations the next day had gone well; he had dropped his monotone in front of the Winglords, fearing that they would take offence to it. He had felt somewhat naked, without one of his defenses, but the Lords seemed to appreciate the gesture. (He didn't know how they had known about his manner of speaking in the first place, but he was relieved he had made the right choice). He noticed that every now and then one of the seekers, usually Thundercracker, who was seated closest to him, would shiver minutely as he was speaking. It took him a while to work out that seekers' wings were very sensitive, and the flyers were likely picking up the vibrations from his voice. He became rather shy after that, unused to having people notice him. The few that had had been aware of his telepathic abilities. This was very unnerving.

He focused instead on the details of the treaty, trying his best only to speak when required. Because of this concentration he failed to notice the amused glances the three exchanged with each other. And had he not avoided using his sixth sense while in the presence of Starscream and his trine, he likely would have picked up their comm. conversation.

"_He's sooo cute!" _

"_I find it hard to believe that someone as gifted as Soundwave would choose to work for the council."_

"_I don't think he chose to Thunder. He hides it well, but I can see the distain in his body language every time he speaks of them."_

"_Really guys, I normally don't go for grounders, but please, can we have him? He's adorable, and he has the most gorgeous voice. It reminds me of the Wind Songs. Please?"_

"_I think that's a wonderful idea, 'Warp. He's so young; barely into his final adult upgrade. I bet he's never interfaced before. And he has shown us more respect than any grounder before him."_

"_We could teach him, give him a taste of the freedom that lies beyond the council's walls before he has to go back to them. And if nothing else, it would spite the council that one of their mechs fell to us."_ The grins the three exchanged, over their bond where Soundwave could not see them, were downright predatory.

* * *

Soundwave had been shocked when he had stumbled across the Winglords interfacing. They had called him to the throne room to discuss one final aspect before he had to leave. He had thought they meant that something had gone wrong with the treaty. He had been wrong.

The young mech had stared, awed, at the group of writhing bodies and flickering wings. He had come back to himself a moment later when three voiced had cried out in ecstasy, and quietly begun to move back towards the door. As surprised as he had been to walk in on them, it did not compare to the shock he felt when purple wings appeared next to him and strong arms wrapped around his chassis. And astroklik later he found himself next to Thundercracker and Starscream as they pulled him down next to them.

Thundercracker had called it; Soundwave had never before experienced the joys of another mech, let alone three. They had painstakingly taught him things about his body he had never before known. Starscream had kissed him gently, slowly turning it more passionate as Soundwave began to respond. Thundercracker had stroked his armor, claws working deep between the gaps to touch the protoform beneath. And Skywarp, oh Skywarp had been everywhere the other two weren't, licking and touching until Soundwave cried out from the pure _pleasure_ of it all.

It was Starscream who had coaxed his chest plates open. He had gently kissed Soundwave's engorged spark.

"Do you want this?" Thundercracker's deep baritone had sent thrills of pleasure dancing through his circuits. Unable to speak he had nodded. The seekers had bared their sparks to him, pressing theirs to his gently. The sensations that had rushed through him had been more intense than anything he had ever felt before. Overload had ripped through him, and for one moment he was connected to the bond the seekers shared. The love, passion and commitment that they felt for each other had nearly brought the stoic young mech to tears. After that, everything was blurred. He didn't remember passing out.

* * *

He had been back in Iacon for a little over two decacycles now. The treaty had gone through relatively painlessly, for which Soundwave was exceedingly grateful for. It was the only thing that had gone right. After his return, many of the mechs and femmes he worked with had converged on him, asked about his stay in the famed city of flyers. Everyone had their own opinion of Vos; none of those opinions were flattering.

"Fraggin' flyers are always wanting more than what they got. Greedy little slaggers. They didn't rip ya off did they?"

"They are beautiful, but they're arrogant little frags with nasty tempers. I'm surprised you got out of there alive."

"Poor mech, surrounded by all those harpies. Bet you're glad to be home huh? Here you won't be ripped apart for scrap metal."

On and on his coworkers insulted the Vosians. Soundwave wisely kept his own council. Unfortunately, Senator Razorclaw noticed that he would listen to the insults but never comment.

"Listen kid, whatever slag those Vosians have you believing about them, it's all a lie. I'm glad you did such a good job dealing with the space cases and this damn treaty, but you need to come back to reality. Believing what they are feeding you isn't natural. Next thing you know, you'll want to mesh their culture with our own. They've had mechs want that before. But let me tell you, doing so will only contaminate the purity of our culture with their filth and undermine everything we've worked for. Get your head out of the sky and back on the ground, Soundwave." Soundwave disagreed entirely with the Senator's opinion. He had seen the deep bond that ran between Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker. Compared to the constant back stabbing and corruption of the council as mechs fought to climb over each other, he privately thought that the seekers had it right.

Unfortunately, as he discretely researched into the divide between the seekers and grounders, he found it was not simply a matter of opinion. The council was so against having a relationship with the flyers that being caught courting one meant life in prison. Interfacing with one meant death. He didn't know what would happen to a grounder carrying flyer's sparklings, as there had never been any previous record of such an event.

So now, here he was, twenty cycles after his trip to Vos, alone and scared. It was not a feeling that he was used to, nor one that he particularly wanted to feel ever again. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to go away anytime soon, if ever. That was assuming that he lived through this. He had slept with the Wing Lord Trine. That was a death sentence if anyone found out. He hadn't thought that anyone would. But things had changed.

Carrying mechs and femmes were always easy to spot. After six decacyles the sparkling would grow large enough to press against its carrier's spark chamber, slightly distending the chassis. That, coupled with a carrier's need to consume more energon, as well as mineral enriched wafers that were vital to the sparkling's development. It wouldn't take long for the others to put it all together. Less time, even, than it would take them to figure out a single spark carrier. Soundwave was carrying _twins_. He would need double the supplies of an average carrier.

If he was lucky, people would simply think that he had a lover they didn't know about who had sparked him. As long as he kept the conception date secret then most would likely not even connect his pregnancy with Vos. But Soundwave knew with absolute certainty that his sparklings were flyers. He had been sparked by a trine of seekers, after all. He could feel his sparklings' need to fly already. He would not condemn his children to ground bound frames when they clearly were not grounders. But as soon as he started building the frames his coworkers would know what he had done. He and his sparklings would be put to death, or the children would be taken away as government experiments. He had heard rumors of such happening before, to mechs born with doorwings.

He had to get out. He thought briefly of going to Vos; the sparklings could have a home there. But what if the Wing Lords didn't want the sparklings? They were unplanned, and the children of a grounder. He had not fooled himself into thinking that his lovers had wanted him for more than one night cycle. No, he was on his own.

He would go back to Kaon. The laws were no different there, but the citizens wouldn't care so long as he didn't endanger them. The Guard rarely ventured into Kaon; it was thought to be the city of thieves and cutthroats. There was no quality medical access there, which he would need. He would have to gather the medical supplies and the material for the sparklings' frames before he left Iacon. And he needed to resign (read: send a comm from a secure location after he fled) from his position, and secure lodgings before he could leave. He had to move quickly. It wouldn't be long before he began to show.

* * *

The Winglords had taken the day off. It had been a few cycles since they had last had the chance to go for a joy flight, and they had taken full advantage of the time they had now. They had spent the morning cycle racing through the air, chasing each other, and playing in the wind. They had even overloaded in the sky. Now they were drifting in the currents, enjoying the feel of the breeze over their plating.

"Do you hear that?" Skywarp asked his mates.

"The Wind Songs? Of course. We hear them every day, 'Warp." Thundercracker still listened though. The music of the wind rushing through their beloved city always brought a sense of awe and peace to the seekers. Starscream was very perceptive, however, and knew what his mate was getting at.

"It reminds you of Soundwave, does it not? That's why you brought it up."

"You can't tell me you're not thinking about him too Star."

"I never said I wasn't."

"It's strange how hung up we are on a mere grounder. He was fun, but it's like there's something more to him. Something intriguing."

"His spark." Starscream looked thoughtful. "His spark felt like a seeker's." He felt his mates' shock over their bond.

"You mean he's trapped in a grounder frame?"

"I don't think so. He'd have gone crazy by now if that was the case. But he has a sigma ability, and I think to some degree he feels the Sky Hunger."

"Then he might be the child of a trine and a grounder. When I researched his records it stated that he is an orphan, creators unknown, and he was raised by the State of Kaon. Maybe…"

"We have to get him back," Skywarp's voice was thick with horror. "He shouldn't be in Iacon. They hate flyers. He needs to be here in Vos, with wingkin."

"Hold up 'Warp, we don't know that he is wingkin."

"So we leave him to the mercy of the Senators and their cybersheep?"

"Stop it, both of you," Starscream cut in. "We'll call Soundwave back on official business. Once we have him we can explain our thoughts and ask him to submit to as spark scan. I think it's likely that he is kin, but we can't jump to conclusions. Once he either agrees or declines, we can decide which course of action to take. All right?" It was weird for Starscream to keep the peace. He had a hot temper. Normally Thundercracker acted as mediator. Once his mates had agreed, they banked around and headed back for the towers. They had preparations to make. Each one brushed off the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong.

* * *

"I'm sorry Starscream, but there is no sign of him. We've confirmed that he left his position as assistant to Senator Razorclaw, and he spent a large amount of credits on supplies ranging from frame material to medical grade energon before he left the city. He got out just in time too. Wildstream was able to find that the Senate had planned to accuse him of being a Vosian sympathizer and conspirator to our kin. He was marked for interrogation by torture. We managed to track his credit trail to a little town outside of Kaon, called Wizor. We're working on finding out where he went after he left, but so far we've had no luck. We're also not the only ones searching. We've had to evade the Guard more times than I care to count. But we'll find him, my Lord. I promise."

"Thank you, Slipstream. Please keep up the good work." Slipstream saluted, transformed, and then shot off the balcony. Starscream sighed. He felt his mates come up behind him, and let himself be pulled back into their embrace. His thoughts churned over the information that Slipstream had brought back. He was very worried about their one time lover. His own framekin had turned against him. His senate had spread lies about his activities. As near as the lead Intel trine could figure, Soundwave's only crime was to not insult Vosians when everyone around him did so. He had been warned that association with their city would lead to cultural contamination. He had still refused to break his silence and thus had been branded an enemy of the state. The young mech had been wise to flee. It was frustrating that they could not find him, but at least the Senate hadn't been able to either. Still, Soundwave couldn't hide forever. Starscream could only hope that they got to him first. He basked in the comfort of his mates for a while, sagging against them. He could tell that they wanted to know if Soundwave had been found. Sure enough, Skywarp asked,

"Did they find him?"

"No. He's really good. Even Slipstream's trine can't locate him. It's almost like he dropped off the grid completely. Did you find his birth records?"

"Locked. Only high level government officials – and certain scientists – have access to them."

"Perfect," the Winglord groaned. "I'm almost positive he's a Skyborn then. But I know how much the council hates our kind, so why would they leave him alive if he is part seeker?'

"I don't know Star. I went through our archives as well, and I located a trine that had a grounder mate. I couldn't access anything beyond their names, bonding and death dates, and there was no record of a creation. But like I said, I couldn't get the whole file."

"I think there is something foul going on here," Skywarp said seriously. "They are covering up something, and it has to do with Soundwave."

* * *

Slipstream cursed, ducking into an alley. A drunken Guard stumbled passed her. He never even noticed she was there. Pathetic. They had been in Kaon for joors, but damned if they could find their quarry. They had been tipped off that he was here in the city, but the mech was like a ghost. There was no sign of him anywhere. She was beginning to lose hope that they would find him.

"Hey!" A voice hissed from the shadows. "Hey seeker!" She turned to see a boxy black and silver mech staring at her. He had blue optics, but instead of being cruel, they seemed desperate.

"What do you want?" She hissed back.

"Word is that you're looking for Soundwave. You gunna help him?"

"What?"

"Are you gunna get him outta here?"

"And what if I am?"

"Good. I can take ya to him. Follow me." He slipped back into the shadows. With no choice, she did.

"Why do you trust me so easily? I could be following you to kill him."

"Ya ain't gunna do that. Not when it was yer kind that fragged him up so badly. He talks about it, through the delirium. Keeps saying that they'd be safer in Vos."

"Who would be?" She asked suspiciously. She didn't fear this mech. She could take him in a fight, she was sure. Still, she called for her trinemates.

"You'll see. Come on." Slipstream followed the strange mech into an old, decrepit, abandoned building. "He got real sick about an orn ago; energon poisoning or summat. Dunno what he's thinkin, drinking that slag, but I guess it's his only choice. Been tryin to keep him cool and comfortable. Dunno how much good it's doin."

"Who are you?"

"A friend. He's upstairs. Follow me."It didn't take the unusual pair long to reach the roof. Slipstream nearly gasped at the sight. A sapphire mech lay sprawled on the ground, wrapped in cooling blankets and surrounded by ice. That wasn't the most surprising aspect, however; the mech's extremely distended chassis marked him as a carrier.

"Oh Primus!" The femme seeker rushed to the young mech's side, checking his temperature and pulse. His temperature was reaching critical levels, while his pulse was very weak. Still, he curled in on himself, arms wrapping around his chassis when she touched him. He was trying to protect his young.

"He was workin on their protoforms when he collapsed. Been doin the best he can to get by, but he's a wanted mech. Them sparklings ain't gunna last out here, ya know? 'Sides, they're gunna be flyers. I dunno which one of you sparked him up, but I want yer word that you'll look after him."

"I… promise. I Swear on the Winds that we will do everything in our power to care for him." Slipstream was trying to stay calm. She had a critically ill carrier on her hands, with no medical equipment to care for him with, and two half finished sparkling bodies. Thankfully, her trine was near. They would have to be careful transporting him home, but they also had to be fast, or they'd lose Soundwave and the sparklings. Not only was the loss of newsparks a heinous, painful thought, but Soundwave himself was important to the Winglords. They had to make sure he survived.

* * *

Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp had been on patrol when the comm. came in. Slipstream had sounded very terse, saying that they had recovered Soundwave, but his condition was too delicate to discuss over the comms. They had turned back towards the Towers immediately; hailing Ramjet's trine to take over for them. They reached their home in record time. Sunstorm was waiting for them on the landing bay.

"My lords!" He cried out when he saw them. "Come quickly! It's Soundwave. It's… well, he's pretty bad. You should… I mean, uh, just come see." The four made their way to the medical bay as quickly as possible. Sunstorm led the trine up to the emergency surgical bay, where they could hear the CMO, Triage, barking out orders. They stepped into the brightly lit bay, only to freeze in horror.

Sound wave's chest plates were split wide open. Energon covered the floor, the berth and the medics. Triage was buried elbows deep inside in their lover's internals, white armor stained a deep fuchsia. Perhaps what horrified them the most was that the young mech's visor and mask were drawn back, allowing them to see his delirious, pain filled optics, and hear his un-muffled screams as the semi-conscious mech arched into Triage. A minor eternity later he fell silent, and Triage pulled two tiny sparks away from the telepath's chassis. Star, 'Warp, and Thunder were all too shell shocked to realize what they were seeing, but a breem later, two tiny voices, almost musical, like their Carrier's, began to cry.

Crying out softly, Skywarp latched onto his mates. Starscream wrapped an arm around the teleporter, while Thundercracker held them both. Triage approached, carrying two tiny bundles in her arms. She carefully handed one to Starscream, and the other to Skywarp. All three mechs gazed at the seekerlets in awe. Immediately the twins quit crying.

"Soundwave regained coherency for a moment before the surgery, my lords. He gave us the names of the twins' sires, and what he wished for them to be called. It is my honor, Winglords, to introduce you to your sons, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak."

It had been several cycles since the twins' birth, and Soundwave had yet to wake. Triage had explained that he might never do so. The young Kaonite had sacrificed his health for his sparklings. To ensure that Laserbeak and Buzzsaw developed strong and healthy, he had allowed them to cannibalize his own systems for essential components, and had shunted all of his pure energon to the twins, while he survived off of low grade. He had had to filter the sludge that he had found in Kaon in order to make sure it didn't harm the young ones, and the crud from the energon had clogged his filters, causing his systems to overheat. Triage had said that she had been surprised that he had managed to survive at all, given how much abuse his systems had taken. They had had to rewire him almost completely; there was no salvaging most of his parts. They all had to be replaced.

It had taken them groons to break his fever, but they feared they had been too late. The medical team had no idea if damage had been done to Soundwave's processor, and they wouldn't know that until he woke up. If he woke up.

Currently Starscream was sitting with Soundwave, with Laserbeak next to his comatose carrier while Buzzsaw recharged in Starscream's arms. One taloned hand clasped Soundwave's limp one, thumb gently stroking its back.

"How did you become so important to us, 'Wave?" The red and white flyer asked. He knew the answer though. Try as they might to pass it off as an interest in the mech's mysterious past and seeker spark, the Wing Lords knew the exact moment that everything had changed.

It was true that they had been attracted to the sapphire mech. He was gorgeous, especially with that sill mask and visor gone. His beauty rivaled many of the seekers, and they wondered why he would hide such a face. Still, they had interfaced with others before, and none of them had left the same impression on him and his mates. But when Soundwave had merged with them, he had somehow tied himself to their bond for one brief, perfect moment. It was as though he belonged there with them. It had taken them an orn after the twins' birth to admit it – to themselves and each other – but they finally had. And now their young lover had given them two perfect sons. They had almost everything they could ask for. All they needed now was for Soundwave to wake up.

"I still don't understand why he didn't come to us the astroklik he knew he was carrying. Why did he hide?" The trine leader looked up, quickly spotting his wing second leaning against the doorframe.

"I don't know Thunder. We'll ask him that when he onlines." Thundercracker said nothing. Instead he pulled up a chair sat down next to their offline lover, taking his other hand. "Is Skywarp in the Throne Room?"

"Yeah. He'll be here in another joor or so. It depends on whether or not the current debate will end up going to court."

"Oh? What happened?"

"Omega's Trine and Overhang's collided in flight practice – Overhang ended up with minor injuries. They're debating whose fault it is and what compensations should be made. I think Skywarp finds the whole thing more amusing than anything else, really." Starscream chuckled.

"That sounds like Warpy." Buzzsaw shifted in Starscream's hold, sleepy red optics flickering online. "Hey there, sparklet. Are you hungry?" The tiny flyer fussed, little hands grabbing for energon.

"I'll feed him." Starscream passed their creation to Thundercracker, who pulled a small bottle of sparkling grade energon from subspace. Buzzsaw squealed happily, and greedily pulled the nipple into his mouth. It was an adorable picture. Star quickly checked on Laserbeak, but the younger twin was still recharging contently with Soundwave. Several long moments passed, only Buzzsaw's soft suckling breaking the silence.

'_Star, Thunder! You better get to the Western Gate right away! Iacon's military is out there!'_ Concerned at the panic in their mate's voice, the two shot to their pedes. Thundercracker called for the nurses to watch over Buzzsaw and Laserbeak while Starscream spoke with Skywarp.

'_Calm down, 'Warp! What's going on?'_

'_I'm not sure. That Senator Razormaw or whatever is name is, is out there with a ground fleet. He says he just wants to talk, but I don't believe him.'_

'_Alright, we'll be there in half a breem. Don't go out there yet.'_

'_Hurry.'_ True to his word, Starscream and Thundercracker made it to the gate in no time. Skywarp had understated the situation. It wasn't so much as a fleet, but rather the entire Primus damned army. Still, they were ground mechs, every one of them, and his seekers had control of the skies. If they attacked, Vos would have the advantage. Starscream was betting the army was there to intimidate them. He doubted if they would actually attack. Still he signaled to Thundercracker to organize the combat trines. He was taking no chances.

At the front of the pathetic grounder army stood Razorclaw, whom Soundwave had been an assistant to. Without this mech, they never would have met him. Still, seekers did not forgive easily, nor did they let go of old grudges. This mech had insulted them by delegating the negotiations to someone else. Therefore, Starscream saw no need to bother with courtesy.

'_I don't think they care much about that Star. If they cared for courtesy they wouldn't have brought their army.'_

'_I say we just shoot them and go home.'_ Skywarp sent an amusing image over the bond of the pompous little senator fleeing with his aft pipes on fire. Starscream fought to keep a straight face.

"Is there something you wanted, Senator?" Starscream asked in a voice that said he could care less what the senator wanted. He was outside the gate, but chose to stay in the air, rather than move down to ground level to talk.

"Winglord Starscream. Please come down here to speak. It is rude to converse over a distance."

"Indeed. However you are in my territory, and I do not feel like catering to your whims. If you wish to speak in closer quarters, you can come up here." Obviously that was not the response the idiot mech had been expecting. He was used to getting his own way and now that he had been denied he had to take a moment to think of a new strategy. Apparently he decided to let the distance go.

"It has come to my attention that you are harboring a fugitive. A young mech named Soundwave. He is wanted for questioning for several counts of conspiracy and plotting against the State. If you turn him over right now then we will leave peacefully."

"I find your lies to be a rather poor cover for the reason you are here. You see, Senator, we did our own investigation when we brought Soundwave to the city. The only thing he is guilty of is associating with us. You suspect – without proof, mind you – that he has had relationships with my people, and you want to determine why, and if he is with sparkling. Your public access records say as much. Interestingly enough, you did the same thing to Soundwave's creators, did you not?" Starscream watched with amusement as Razorclaw ground his denta. They had not expected that the Wing Lords would care enough about a grounder to investigate their claims and had thought that they would simply turn him over. "For all I know your execution of Backblade might have been justified; you are lucky that his mates chose to go with him or we would have gone to war. You see, while it might be illegal for your people to have relationships with mine, it is not so for us. And Soundwave is a citizen of Vos by birth, so your claims have no value here. Leave now, and you can go in peace. If not, kindly remember that it was you who brought your army; my kin are simply defending their home."

"To put it more simply," a flash of purple announced Skywarp and Thundercracker's presence outside the gates, "get the Pit off our territory and we won't open fire."

"And if you ever, ever come close to our Consort, we will take it a declaration of war against all seeker kin and we will react accordingly." Thundercracker backed up his words by releasing a small sonic boom that had the front line warriors grasping their audio receptors. "Are we clear?" Razorclaw looked as though he had sucked on sour energon. The mates could clearly see that he wanted to give the order to attack. He must have had some sense of self preservation however, because he backed off. He ordered a retreat, and the army moved swiftly, clearly wanting to be out of range of another sonic blast. They watched until the warriors were gone before heading back into the city. The seekers cheered. Hopefully it would be the last time the groundpounder council would make such a foolish move.

"Triage to the Winglords! You're needed in the medical bay immediately!" Exchanging worried looks, the three transformed and took off. It wasn't long before they were bursting through the medical bay doors, searching for the CMO. Triage simply pointed to Soundwave's room, and the trine rushed into the room. They were met by Soundwave, who was sitting up in his berth, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw cradled to him. He seemed to be somewhat dazed, as though he didn't know where he was. His optics focused on his lovers, and he smiled, but it was somewhat strained.

"Hi," his voice was soft and rough from disuse.

"Hey there 'Wave," Starscream took his seat by the berth, while Thunder and Warp shared the other chair. "I'm glad to see you're awake. Do you know where you are?"

"Vos?"

"That's right!" Skywarp chirped. "You remember us, right?"

"Yes, I do."

"Oh good. We were worried that the fever might have been too much and made you forget or something. I'm glad it didn't."

"Why didn't you come to us Soundwave?" Thundercracker asked quietly. "As soon as you knew, you should have come. We wouldn't have turned you away."

"I… I wasn't sure. I didn't know what to do, and I was panicking. I'm sorry."

"There is no need to apologize; you're here now, and the twins are strong and healthy and beautiful. You did a great job." Soundwave's smile became less strained at Starscream's words; he gazed down at the sleeping seekerlets in his arms with the same kind of awe the trine did every time they looked at their creations. "You need to rest. You've been offline for days now, and you're systems will need time to adapt. Thundercracker and I are on duty now, but Sky will stay with you."

"Alright, thank you." He looked ready to drop into recharge at any moment. Star leaned forward and brushed a brief kiss to Soundwave's lips. The sapphire mech kissed back gently. Starscream's spark sang. He pulled away and Thundercracker took his place, pressing a light kiss to Soundwave's lips as well. They both left the room quietly, looking back at their mate, lover and creations before they did so. Soundwave was already in recharge, and Skywarp, who had climbed onto the berth and curled up against him, looked to be heading that way himself. Exchanging smiles, the pair made their way to the Throne Room. They had a city to run, and now that they knew Soundwave would be fine it was much easier to focus on.

The first matter of business was to send the Intel Trines to look into the senate's next plot. They weren't stupid (although they thought the council might be) and they knew they wanted the telepath for something. They also deployed trines to find others who might be like their Wave; if any were out there they would be offered sanctuary in Vos. Why they wanted Soundwave (and any brethren he may have) was a mystery, but they knew one thing for sure: the telepath was theirs. He was the carrier of their creations, their lover and their Consort. He may one day be their bondmate. There was no way that they were letting anyone take him from them ever. They almost pitied the mechs who would be foolish enough to try. Almost.


End file.
